Week 7: What's the password?

When is the last time you've really thought about your passwords? And just for a moment, stop and consider how many "places" you frequent that have a password: your Coe network account, my.coe.edu,  and your CoeMail account, for beginners.  Your bank, Netflix, your mobile phone provider, your online bookmarking site, and your Skype account if you Skype. If you've got credit cards, you'll probably be asked for your password if you call in to inquire about a claim.

How safe is your password? Do you have a schedule for changing your passwords? Have you thought about WHO thinks so much about passwords?

Lorrie Faith Cranor is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, and she's been thinking about passwords a lot.  In this TEDtalk, she shares the interesting results of studying thousands of passwords.

[or read the transcript]

If you're still using "welcome" or "12345678" as your password, perhaps this is inspiration to make a change.  SplashData, a security app producer based in Los Gatos, California, publishes a yearly list of the top 25 worst passwords. Is yours on the latest list?

1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. 123456789
7. 111111
8. 1234567
9. iloveyou
10. adobe123
11. 123123
12. admin
13. 1234567890
14. letmein
15. photoshop
16. 1234
17. monkey
18. shadow
19. sunshine
20. 12345
21. password1
22. princess
23. azerty
24. trustno1
25. 000000

So, how do you create a stellar password? Doug Aamoth, is a tech writer for the Times, and shares his best advice for passwords HERE.

Do you have a method or recipe for creating your passwords? Are you guilty of recycling your passwords? What's your best advice for remembering your passwords and/or creating a strong password?